Wild Rice Salad

This recipe is based off of a tear-out recipe from one of the Vegetarian Times Magazine subscription inserts. It called for way too much oil and too much dressing overall. I realized this after making the whole batch of dressing and ended up using only a portion of it. The rest of the dressing is waiting for me to come up with something else to dress. In the mean time this rice salad turned out quite tasty. I've altered the original recipe to accommodate the changes that I would make in the future.
I used Lundberg Farms Wild Blend my favorite wild rice blend for most anything. It has a very nutty flavor and great texture.
Wild Rice Salad
1 16 oz package wild rice or blend , cooked according to package directions and allowed to cool.

1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 c orange juice (I used a fresh squeezed cara cara orange)
2 tablespoons fresh orange zest
1 tablespoon agave syrup
1 tablespoon stone ground mustard

Whisk the above ingredients in a large bowl.
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
2 green onions, thinly sliced
Combine the wild rice blend, pine nuts, dried cranberries, mint and green onions with the dressing in the large bowl. Refrigerate to let flavors blend.

Quinoa Mango Salad

This was one of the best meals from last week. Mark raved about it while praising me for my diverse cooking abilities. What a good man!

The Quinoa Mango Salad was inspired by Curried Quinoa Salad with Mango from The Tropical Vegan Kitchen. Once again I tweaked it to fit what I had on hand.

Quinoa Mango Salad

1 cup quinoa

In a large saucepan bring salted water o a boil over high heat. Add the quinoa and turn the heat down to medium. Cook for about 12 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Drain and let cool.

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon fruit juice (I used Knudsen's Morning Blend)
1/2 teaspoon agave
1/2 teaspoon stone ground mustard
1/16 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper (white pepper would be even better)

Whisk the above ingredients in a medium to large bowl and set aside.

1 mango, peeled and diced
1 medium cucumber, pealed and diced
3 scallions, thinly sliced

Once the quinoa is cool, add it, the mango, cucumber and scallions to the dressing. Toss well to blend.

I loved this salad and I have to admit, I bought more mango and cucumber to make another batch sometime this week. I might add some chopped mint this time just to try something a little different.